Gemma, Nico, and Tessai sat beside a campfire in the evening, all three wearing and wielding their respective armors and weapons.
There were close to four hundred Sleepers on this coral platform doing the same, most belonging to the former Hunters, Pathfinders, or Castle Guard. Scattered over about two kilometers and three coral pillars, the Sleepers of the Dark City made their way towards the ever-present Crimson Spire. During the day they scouted and traversed to the next high-point, and at night they all hid from the Corrupted horrors of the sea.
Behind Nico was an eldritch horror come to life. Over ten meters tall and using five large, insectoid legs to hold up its slimy, slug-like mass, the Fallen Monster was a veritable mountain that could crawl. Random white pustules dotted its… back? Torso? Whatever it was, a rotten, powerful scythe appendage acted as its left limb, and a long tentacle its right, a gyrating maw full of serrated teeth situated at the crown.
It had no eye sockets, but two crimson flames burned brightly just above the mouth.
Ignoring the beast as it rasped long, winding breaths in and out, the three Sleepers split portions of roast meat and began chowing.
Tessai sat beside Nico wordlessly. In fact, he hadn't spoken unless requested since he had been freed, merely following along wherever the important leader went due to the nature of his predicament. He could be quite destructive if he wished to be, but now, so close to the siege, there was no risk.
Still, he remained at Nico's side regardless, and he did nothing to dispel him.
Afterwards, when they were done eating, they waited around for dusk.
Gemma, his emerald eyes glowing as he stared into the depths of the flame, asked:
"Nico, what do you think you'll do if we get out of here? It's been so long since I first entered the Dream Realm… I'm not too sure what I'd do, if anything."
Nico looked at the solemn man.
Gemma was... conflicted. His ramshackle life in the Dark City hadn't been a peaceful one. People had been badly hurt, viciously killed, and gruesomely tortured under Gunlaug's rule, and he was the first confidant to have ever supported him nine whole years ago. While he was liberated, the past continued to haunt him. What he'd done would never truly be forgotten. Not by him and certainly not by the other survivors.
And was… was there even anyone left out there for him to find? To come back to? So much time had passed. There were things left behind that couldn't be mended.
Listening to the whispers of his Attribute detail Gemma's struggle and hidden feelings, and basking in the self-doubt, regret, and hopelessness the man felt, Nico felt his expression dim.
He spoke quietly:
"I would visit my mother's grave."
Gemma smiled sadly.
"Really? Why?"
It seemed a silly thing to ask — inappropriate, even — but Gemma knew what kind of man Nico was. Cold logic burned where his heart should've been. Reminiscence of the dead wasn't counted among his virtues.
Nico answered simply:
"It is what my Devil wants."
Chuckling, the former Hunter replied:
"Ah, I see. That thing is quite the creature, isn't it, my friend. You said its intelligence is comparable to ours? That certainly is hard to believe." His gaze flickered to Tessai for a moment. "I'm surprised you even told me."
Nico shook his head.
"It's only natural. We will be in the same cohort after returning to the waking world anyway."
Gemma almost choked. He rose a brow and snapped his head towards the calm Sleeper, almost shuddering when he saw the coiled abomination he rested his back against.
"The hell do you mean?"
Looking up at the rolling movement of clouds, Nico spoke flatly:
"You forget I can sense your emotions. I feel them myself through my Flaw and understand them through my Attribute. The idea has passed through your mind before, hasn't it? Well, I'm inviting you — you and Kido, if she so wishes — to become members of clan Song. You'd be part of my personal retinue. I am, though you wouldn't know it, technically a prince."
Gemma choked on air. Tessai's eyes widened. White sparks assembled in the air.
"Besides, I plan to be busying myself hunting to form more cores. You are a Hunter, no? The opportunity is second to none. There will be no faster place to saturate your core and earn money."
The shroud of light disappeared, and in Nico's hand was the [Herald's Locket]. Its pristine silver glimmered as always. He extended it towards Gemma.
"Look into the mirror within if you wish. It tells you your true thoughts."
Gemma studied the Memory for a moment.
'A… A prince?'
Even disregarding the potential falsehood of his statement, he already knew Nico was connected to Seishan and had considered asking. He didn't need the Memory to know the offer was tempting. Maybe… maybe after they all returned, he'd decide. There were things he had to know.
"Alright," he said, pushing away the locket. "I'll think about it. If we live long enough, I'll fill Kido in too."
***
The Crimson Spire was a colossal tower tall enough to rival the sky itself. Like a spear thrust from the divine above, it skewered the world and wept bloody coral across the entirety of the Forgotten Shore, devouring anything and everything that died upon its surface.
Hundreds of thousands of souls had been filtered into the Crimson Terror at its apex, and through its conduit, the looming sun.
Unlike the rest of the realm, though, it remained alone on a solitary island, a great and unfathomable whirlpool poised to seize any invaders.
Yet, there remained one bridge. A bridge which the Sleepers of the Forgotten Shore made camp on one end, and the vile forces of the Terror hid just beneath the waves on the other.
Separated by mere kilometers, Nico felt each of their abyssal souls in his senses. They were vile nodes, each at least of the Awakened rank, infested with otherworldly rot.
'There's more of them than us… Almost triple.'
Even the Dreamer army — of which nine hundred remained following the journey westward and the time spent in preparation — was both outnumbered and outclassed.
The Sleepers seemed to have already realized the impending lives to be lost. Some were praying and others were giving teary goodbyes, but as the deadline drew near, each gained a sense of solemn resolve.
Everyone wanted to go home. Nobody wanted to be the reason they didn't.
He looked at his Spirit beside him. The terrifying, haunting visage of the Fallen Monster stared back.
'At least we have great power ourselves. I don't sense many opponents of its rank.'
Before long, the sun had fully risen, and the army was assembled. Split into a first, second, and third line — of which the final was ranged and first two swapped out fighting — the Sleepers stood their ground.
Nico settled at the very front alongside Caster and Effie, his Spirit a giant, malignant mass that spearheaded the entire army. Gemma, Seishan, and Tessai manned the second line. Kai and Kido commanded the third.
Nephis, somewhere, planned to make her appearance later in the fight, something Nico couldn't quite understand.
Sunny, whose soul especially stood out among the crowd as both opposite and deeply contrast, also decided to wait. Nephis had no doubt entrusted the keys to him due to his stealth affinity.
Now, all that was left was to wait.
Once the sun rose fully, the nightmare horde began to march. Spilling over the enormity of the bridge in a stampede, hundreds of varying abominations came into view, each carrying their own deadly abilities.
Activating his Dormant Ability, Nico empowered himself with all three of his soul roots and brandished the [Mourning Star].
It had been a month or so since he tested himself in combat.
"First Mark!"
Effie's shout boomed over the battlefield, echoing backwards through the other line's leaders.
The artillery bombardment began. Six steel javelins streaked overhead, colliding with the stampede in a violent spray of flesh, chitin, bone, and blood.
Nico tuned it all out.
His soul was aflame. Swirling and pulsing, his lifeblood molded freely to his Aspect's will. Essence manipulation fell under the domain of Awakened, but Nico was an exception. Often times he even wondered how exactly he hadn't naturally become one. What even was the difference between a Dormant and Awakened Soul Core?
He didn't know, but after watching the natural process that created Shaman's, he figured that somewhere along the way it'd been warped. Dormant Cores were a design of the Spell, and both the creation of a core and natural Awakening were one in the same.
That said… what if he was wrong? Dormant Nightmare Creatures existed out there. While that might've been a result of the Spell, that was unlikely given how ancient the Dream Realm's history. There must've been a way for Dormant's to Awaken naturally, and his Aspect gave him all the necessary information.
All that was left was for him to assemble it into a key that fit the lock.
For the past few weeks since repairing his spirit he had been wading the waters of awakening. By observing how Shaman used essence, cross-referencing that with the process that had created its cores, and experimenting with his own blood and Soul Core, progress was being made.
All that was left was to throw it into the crucible of battle.
Exhaling lightly, his eyes sharpened, and the line of monsters collided with the Dreamer army.
Soon after, all that was left was the smell of blood, the screams of the dead, and the conquest the living undertook to honor their sacrifice.